The Advantages and Disadvantages of Buying a Condo

When you stop to think about whether you want to live in a condo or a house in an urban area, you must first understand that a condo is a combination of an apartment and a house. While you can buy a condo outright, you’ll still live close to other people. Of course, this means there are some advantages and some disadvantages you must consider here.

Disadvantages to Buying a Condo

There’s bound to be disadvantages to almost everything in life, but when you buy a condo, you’ll want to know what you’re getting into. The disadvantages here include:

Besides paying for the condo, appreciation, and mortgage, you also must remember that you’re responsible for paying association dues (between $100 – $1,000 per month depending on how luxurious the location is). These are necessary for paying for things like amenities (e.g. 24-hour gated security, gym, pool).

Some condos can’t afford to pay for routine landscaping. This happens when there are many members who are struggling to pay their monthly dues. It’s in your best interest to make sure you don’t buy a condo in a plan that’s underfunded in this way.

While the outside of your condo is taken care of for you, you’re on your own when it comes to taking care of the inside of your condo. Unfortunately, a lot can go wrong here (e.g. plumbing issues, the HVAC system going out).

You may be asked to pay an “assessment.” This is when the condo association must collect additional money from you to pay for things that aren’t included in the regular monthly fees like repainting the building’s exterior or a burst pipe.

It’s oftentimes more difficult to sell a condo than it is to sell a house, especially if a lot of your neighbors are also trying to sell their condo at the same time.

Even if you like the social, community-driven atmosphere a condo provides, it’s still important to remember that you can’t pick your neighbors. Unfortunately, it’s much more difficult to avoid them here than if you owned a home and this can become quite uncomfortable.

Advantages to Buying a Condo

For many people, the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages. These include:

One of the biggest reasons people often buy a condo is because they don’t have a yard to mow. Instead, you pay dues to the condo association who then takes care of the majority of your maintenance needs.

Buying a condo costs less than buying a house of the same size because of property values and the fact that single-family detached homes appreciate faster.

You’ll enjoy a sense of community when you buy a condo. This is because you live much closer to your neighbors and don’t have a yard that separates you. These circumstances have a way of making even the most anti-social person more social because you’ll see your neighbors in the elevator or the lobby, or at the pool, lounge, or gym.

Condos are typically located in “interesting” areas where you’ll find restaurants, bars, parks, and shopping areas that you can easily walk to. This encourages you to be more active than you’d be if you were living in a house instead.

There are many things you should think about before you buy a condo, sometimes you’ll still find that this is the right decision for you. Regardless of your decision regarding what type of property you want to buy, make sure that if you’re “shopping” in Clearwater, Florida you contact Clearwater Beach Real Estate. They’ll help you find the best property for you, regardless of what it may be.